The 2,200-plus who joined the 8th annual Values Voter Summit sent a strong message to the Washington establishment over the weekend by showing their support of Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the 2013 VVS Presidential Straw Poll. Cruz finished first with 42 percent of the votes cast.

Dr. Ben Carson finished in second place at 13 percent, with only one vote separating him from former Sen. Rick Santorum. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) came in fourth, with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) right behind at six and five percent respectively.

Dr. Carson won the vice presidential straw poll, with 21 percent of votes cast. Sen. Cruz came in second with 17 percent and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was third with nine percent of the vote.

Over 2,200 people were registered for the eighth annual Values Voter Summit. Only FRC Action members who were present at the event were allowed to vote.

When you look at the complete VVS presidential poll results, what is evident is that conservative, Republican-leaning voters are looking for — and will get behind — true leaders who refuse to be bound by the “we can’t” mentality of the establishment and will challenge the status quo. They want a leader who will speak and act with clarity in challenging the freedom-sapping policies of President Obama. One would think this would be self-evident to GOP leaders after losing once again in 2012 when so many conservative, Republican leaning voters stayed home after not connecting with the GOP’s candidate.